Part of my natural health routine includes getting an occasional massage when I feel a little stressed or wiped out from a tough week at work. When I am really feeling sore or something feels out of place, I go to a chiropractor, but a good massage therapist can do wonders when I don’t quite need a chiropractor. In fact most chiropractors have at least one massage therapist on staff to compliment their work. Some will also have an acupuncturist as well, all though that is less common.

Since I have lived in a lot of places in Canada over the years, I have known quite a few massage therapists. Finding a good one is just like any other service where some are good, some are bad, and some are great. I think my favorite place to get a massage was a place called Gravite Massage near Dieppe NB The owner was Bob Taylor and he was a really friendly and outgoing guy. He never made me feel uncomfortable and always put me at ease before getting started. He would do things like tell me about his last vacation and then ask me about mine. Nothing gets people to relax better than talking about a great vacation since it takes them back to a place when they were very happy.

If you decide you want to try to give someone you know a massage, watch this video which gives some great directions on what to do to your wife, husband, spouse, or whoever you want to massage. Of course the results won’t technically as good as if they went to an experienced therapist, but it is a lot more intimate if you want to get closer to someone you love.

I do a fair bit of traveling and on a recent trip to Edmonton, I found myself with an injured shoulder. I was in the hotel gym trying to get in an early morning workout before starting my day of endless meetings. Anyway, I was using one of those mechanical bench press machines ( I hate those) and the range of motion just didn’t feel right. I should have done the smart thing and said to heck with this, but I didn’t. I proceeded with my reps and all of a sudden I heard and felt a crunching sound.

Not good! For the rest of the day my shoulder was very sore and didn’t have the range of motion that it used to have. I thought it might just get better on it’s own, but by day four of my trip I had had enough. I asked some of the people that I was working with if they knew a good Chiropractor in Edmonton. One older lady spoke up and said she periodically visited a Dr. Curtis Masters at Champion Chiropractic. We got to talking and she told me she had played a lot of sports in her younger years and all the wear and tear of Tennis, Baseball, and Soccer had caught up with her. Anyway, I think I made a new friend and we sometimes chat on Facebook.

Back to my injury, I booked an appointment with the Chiropractor and they were able to squeeze me in the next day. When I got there, Dr. Curtis was very friendly and pleasant, so I was at ease right away. He explained that my shoulder joint was slightly misaligned where the Humerus enters the socket and the rotation was being hampered causing movement to be restricted. He told me he was going to attempt to reset the shoulder while explaining everything he was doing.

He had me make a fist and pull my elbow to my chest with my arm totally bent, so my hand was near my face. From behind me, he grabbed my elbow and exerted upwards pressure on the shoulder joint. We heard a little bit of a snap and I felt instant relief. Wow, I thought to myself, this guy really came through for me and that put me in a great mood for the rest of my trip, even though I still had more boring work to do. Dr. Curtis even explained how to avoid getting this injury again. He said to always keep the weights as close to your body as possible to avoid any unnecessary stress on your shoulders.

So, don’t forget the Chiropractors when you are injured – they can usually help you.